{"id":14802,"date":"2013-09-18T22:52:06","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T03:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=14802"},"modified":"2013-09-19T05:19:46","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T10:19:46","slug":"concert-review-alisa-weilerstein-soars-above-under-rehearsed-toronto-symphony-orchestra-in-season-opening-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2013\/09\/18\/concert-review-alisa-weilerstein-soars-above-under-rehearsed-toronto-symphony-orchestra-in-season-opening-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Concert review: Alisa Weilerstein soars above under-rehearsed Toronto Symphony Orchestra in season-opening performance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alisa<\/a>
Alisa Weilerstein in full flight with the Toronto Symphony on Wednesday night (Josh Clavir photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra opened its season at Roy Thomson Hall on Wednesday night with a British-themed programme anchored on the many virtues of young Amercian cello star Alisa Weilerstein.<\/p>\n

The cellist delivered; the orchestra and music director Peter Oundjian less so.<\/p>\n

It was disconcerting to see nearly a third of the seats empty for the start of the Toronto Symphony\u2019s 2013-14 season.<\/p>\n

Part of that may be due to the confusing presence of the gala opening concert on Saturday night, featuring pianist Lang Lang.<\/p>\n

Were this week\u2019s Wednesday and Thursday night presentations merely a warmup organized to make up for the cancelled annual pre-season Northern Ontario tour? (Not just an outreach exercise, the tour helped the orchestra return to playing as one after a summer spent apart.)<\/p>\n

This is not to say the Toronto Symphony Orchestra isn\u2019t a very fine ensemble. Its recently acquired rich string sound was in ample evidence throughout a programme that included music of Benjamin Britten, Edward Elgar and Antonin Dvor\u00e1k\u2019s Symphony No. 7<\/em>, premiered in London in 1885.<\/p>\n

In fact, all of the sections played very nicely, but the overall interpretation lacked finesse, final coat of polish that speaks of fine attention to detail.<\/p>\n

Not that Weilerstein could be accused of this; her performance of Elgar\u2019s 1919 Cello Concerto<\/em> was breathtaking in its technical ease, careful attention to the most minute of details and the intensity with which the soloist underlined so many key musical moments.<\/p>\n

This was the sort of performance that sears itself into memory for its magnetism. And it wasn\u2019t just a virtuosic show; it displayed the full range of human emotion expressible in music.<\/p>\n

Weilerstein\u2019s performance alone was worth the price of admission \u2013 and despite the flaws, I\u2019d like to suggest that hearing the Britten and Dvor\u00e1k works was, too.<\/p>\n

Britten\u2019s 1945 Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Purcell<\/em> is a magical, masterful showcase of everything an orchestra can do, while wrapping a wide embrace over Britain\u2019s rich musical history ranging from the 17th to 20th centuries.<\/p>\n

In Oundjian\u2019s hands, the music was bright, clear, but a bit black-and-white where there could have been more subtle gradations of sound generated from different sections of the orchestra.<\/p>\n

The same was true for the Dvor\u00e1k symphony, much too rarely heard in this part of the world.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big, stolid piece of dramatic symphonic writing that nonetheless contains a wealth of thematic and contrapuntal details that could make for a graceful turn on the concert hall stage.<\/p>\n

What we heard was stolidly competent on Wednesday night. The TSO is capable of better \u2013 too bad it can\u2019t be for its first performance of the fall.<\/p>\n

+++<\/p>\n

CBC Radio 2 recorded Wednesday night\u2019s concert for future broadcast.<\/p>\n

John Terauds<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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